Metro Vancouver’s vibrantdistrict energy marketAcross the greater Vancouver, B.C., area, neighborhood energy systemsare growing in size and number and increasing their use of renewableenergy technologies.Kathryn Ramsted, Editorial Associate, District EnergyThe mountain-backed seaport of Vancouver, B.C., on Canada’s Pacific coast is recognized as one of the most livable, environmentally conscious cities in the world. The birthplace of Greenpeace nearly 50 years ago, Vancouver has long been focused on mitigating the effects of climate change. It has the lowest per capita carbon emissions of any major city in NorthAmerica, and its sights are set on becoming the greenest city on the globe. The city of Vancouverhas enacted a number of policies and initiatives in support of that goal.Among them is the Renewable City Strategy announced in 2015, with its two overarchingobjectives to be reached before 2050: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percentbelow 2007 levels and derive 100 percent of the energy used citywide from renewable sources.The development and expansion of low-carbon district energy networks, or neighborhood energysystems, is a key strategy for meeting these targets.

Photo IStock.

Editor’s note: IDEA’s 2018 Annual Conference and Trade Show offers attendees the opportunity to tour a few key district energy systems
in the Metro Vancouver, B.C., region. District Energy previews these systems with a look at some of their most recent developments.

District energy providers acrossMetro Vancouver have already been tak-ing the lead in establishing new low-carbon systems and upgrading exist-ing ones. The area is home to a vibrantdistrict energy market (fig. 1), reflectinga diverse array of settings and technolo-gies. A closer look at a sampling of thesesystems – in Vancouver, Richmond andBurnaby – illustrates just how active andforward-thinking they are as they con-tribute to preserving Metro Vancouveras one of Canada’s greenest and mostbeautiful regions.